You know the uplifted feeling you get when you declutter and beautify a room? Our home reset webinars are back, and I'd love you to be part of it, to get our Spring 2020 blossoming all the way. On Sunday join Create a Sacred Space, and a few Sundays later, complete your transformation with 'Permaculture, starting at the Kitchen sink: Declutter, Reset, Enjoy'.
I've put together a 'cheat sheet' for you here, of super-practical actions you can take now, to re-set your mind and start creating your sacred space at home. Get Elevated!
My client Robyn and I made this little shrine of beauty, truth and love in a high-attention, high-value zone in her once-cluttered kitchen. When I visit weeks later, its still a busy spot, but the stagnation is gone. Everything there is in immediate use, in flow. There might be a fruitcake her elderly mum baked, or a breadboard and loaf ready for lunch, arranged prettily.
Robyn says "I love the new flow and lightness in my kitchen. I now have greenery instead of clutter that wasn't serving me. I don't miss it one bit. Throughout the day I enjoy moments of pausing to look at my little shrine, micro-meditations that get me purposeful, not scattered, not chasing every idea and impulse"
Here are some hands-on Cecilia guidelines to get you started. (Not rules. Never rules!)
No mugs with pens
Long things should be allowed to lay flat, and contribute to a feeling of rest. Never force them to stand when they are off-duty. Find a biro your hand and eyes love, your 'signature' pen, and buy 50 of them. Lay some mindfully, lined up pretty, in places you may need them, including handbag pocket and car. Never worry your brain over 'is this my pen?' again. Your pen-stealing days are over. The 'promotional pen' industry's days are numbered, as we no longer commission or consume objects with advertisising and allow them into our sacred spaces.
No more 'Decorations' contradicting each other
The stray mismatched pictures in frames, doilies, figurines, are all gone. You only need one decorative item to set the tone of the room. Take a photo of images you enjoy gazing at. Use them as your screen saver, or in your Pinterest, donate the original. Better still, find the essence in each image, and make it real in your life. Your thoughtful arrangement of useful possessions will be your artwork.
No more round things and square things forced together.
Squares feel listened to and understood when they are tucked inside or grouped with other square things. Same with round things, they like to be with a flock of other round things, with their family. When round and square are forced together, they make each other look bad, and the awkward space between them becomes unusable. Take square or straight things out of round containers. Once you see and feel the disharmony, you can't unsee it. This will give you the energy to keep things lovely. Look at Robyn's 'before' picture. Can you find three unhappy couples, of square-with-round'? Now go on the lookout at your house, and liberate them.
No more intrusively-colored Tupperware
Infrastructure such as containers or pots for plants should be humble, helpful, and call attention to what is in them, not themselves. Robyn has now bought new white lids for her existing container collection and donated mismatched ones without a 'family' to the charity shop.
Robyn and Cecilia have a declutter day. What was overwhelming becomes play.
No more notebooks.
Just like the stuff in her cupboards, The notebooks all over Robyns house were full of items (ideas) that promise to be 'handy' one day, but almost never are. Now instead of notes, she is using and loving these options: - Open your diary and put in a plausible date in the future, to act on the idea.
- Send the idea as an email to herself, with careful, searchable titles such as 'Lovely bike-riding tracks for weekends'.
- Use a single sheet of fresh paper folded in 4, like a book. Write your lists small, and it can last for days.
- Let go of the shiny new idea, and spend your love-energy implementing the best existing ideas.
No more pretty baskets with scary contents
If you have an 'Everything' dish or basket? They are cosmic domestic black holes: things go in, and never come out again. Make a real homes for items that are essential to your happiness. Be truthful...most can go in the bin, and you won't miss them at all.
Shopping bags live in the car, or near the front door.
Enjoy reading mail at the letterbox
No need to bring it into the kitchen, then back to the recycle bin. You may get chatting to neighbors. Set up all bills on autopay, so your mind is free for other things.
No recipe books in kitchens.
Perfect the dishes you already know. Use google, or get a friend to teach you a new dish.
That's enough for now. Go forth and re-beautify!
Visit my Event page, and book into our Sunday workshops, September 20 and October 4th hosted by my beautiful yoga teacher sister Katie, and myself. Be in the company of cool people, as we identify our true style, and do a hands-on declutter together.
The heartbreak of the pandemic has altered things forever. A sorted-out home life changes everything, and does it with the almost-magical power of culture, no need for force or unwilling effort. Like all animals, our natural genius recognizes and resonates with beauty. Once we are shown the pattern, creating harmony at home becomes second-nature. Uncertainty about where to start dissapears. Life becomes light.
Do Cecilia's postcard method: it reveals your 'Style DNA' which then naturally manifests.
Feel free to contact me before the workshop with your questions, and the 'before' pictures of places you want to transform. The messier the better.
"The only effort should be in the maintenance of Effortlessness"
- Zen saying
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